Two former seminarians have settled their civil sex abuse lawsuits
against a Catholic bishop who publicly resigned after admitting
that he molested at least one young boy.

Matthew Cosby of St. Louis and Michael J. Wegs of Minneapolis,
Minn. announced today that they have agreed to settle their civil
suits against Anthony J. O'Connell, the former bishop of Diocese
of Palm Beach, Fla., and a priest with the Diocese of Jefferson
City, Mo., where the suit originated. O'Connell now lives at Mepkin
Abbey, just north of Charleston, South Carolina.

Wegs, 50, and Cosby, 36, filed suit against O'Connell in March
2002 after St. Louisan Christopher Dixon disclosed that he had received
a secret settlement in the early 90s from the disgraced bishop and
the Jefferson City diocese.

Dixon alleged that O'Connell molested him when he was a high school
student at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, a college prep school for
prospective priests, operated by the Missouri diocese in Hannibal.

"I am a cradle Catholic. I am a first-born son," Wegs
said. "I am the child that my parents entrusted to the Church
with the hope and belief that they had given of themselves to the
service of God.

"Instead, I became the object of emotional abuse and sexual
gratification of a pedophile who used the sanctity of the priesthood
to molest boys like me within his care," he added. Wegs, who
grew up in Moberly, Mo., graduated from St. Thomas in May 1971.
He had hoped to become a priest.

"My mother, who is a good and holy woman, deserves an apology
not only from O'Connell," Wegs said, "but also from Bishop
Michael F. McAuliffe (retired) and Bishop John R. Gaydos, who conspired
against her well-being and personal faith to protect a pedophile
priest."

Wegs received a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia
(1975) and attended Kenrick Seminary, St. Louis (1977-1979). He
is an award-winning journalist and public relations professional.

Cosby graduated from St. Thomas in May 1986. Today he is employed
by Barnes-Jewish Hospital where he works as cardiac research and
analysis technician.

Wegs, who was a seminarian with diocese 1967-1979, alleged that
O'Connell sexualized and manipulated his guidance counseling sessions,
called spiritual direction, over a two-year period (1968-1970).
In addition, his suit alleged that O'Connell masturbated in his
presence in the chapel sacristy or robing room.

"I am relieved that Gaydos and the Diocese of Jefferson City
have acknowledged the harm that O'Connell did to me during my youth
at St. Thomas," Wegs said. "I've carried this burden and
the memories of those events with me for nearly 40 years, and now
I will be able to move forward knowing that O'Connell has finally
been called to task for ABUSIVE behavior that has seriously affected
my life."

Cosby concurred with Wegs.

"While O'Connell took a lot of the happiness I should have
had as a youth, I no longer allow him or his actions to sadden and
control me," he said. "I still have problems as a result,
but filing and seeing this through to the end has helped me see
that I truly am a survivor despite his victimization."

Cosby said that if he had filed suit against O'Connell and diocese
as early as 1999, Missouri's statute of limitations would have protected
his case.

"But for all that he took away, I am reclaiming back what
is mine, albeit a bit later in my life," Cosby said. "My
faith which has been distorted and alien, is in renewal. And while
I am not a 'practicing' Catholic now, I am a more spiritual and
compassionate person, in spite of the example that O'Connell provided
for me.

"My prayer is that anyone who was abused by this man or any
other religious figure would seek help," he said.

O'Connell' s 25-year tenure (1964-1989) tenure at St. Thomas allowed
him to oversee more than 100 boys and young men on an annual basis.
He also worked as the diocese as the diocesan vocation director
and recruiter during this period; and he was a key member of the
priest personnel board (1974-1989), supervising parish placements
and employment files.

In 1989, O'Connell was appointed the first bishop of Knoxville,
Tenn. In 1999, he succeeded Bishop J. Keith Symmonds of Palm Beach,
who was forced to resign after admitting that he molested boys in
Florida. Likewise, Symmonds' predecessor was forced out when he
was identified as a serial sexual predator.

Wegs said he agreed to settle with O'Connell and the Missouri diocese
to preserve a court ruling he won in Marion County Circuit Court
in Hannibal (Doe v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, et
al., CV302-142CC). In his written opinion, Judge C. David Darnold
ruled that "Churches can be held to the same standard as any
other entity that is in the position of caring for children."

Darnold's opinion also noted that churches can be sued for the
negligence of its clergy; and that members of the clergy are indeed
Church employees not contract workers. By classifying clergy as
contract worker, religious denominations often are able to limit
their legal liability.

"Missouri has a very repressive statute of limitations which
church leaders take advantage of to protect themselves instead of
protecting youngsters," Wegs said. "Given this, I decided
that it was better for my healing and the well-being of other victims
to move one small step forward and settle this case."

"I am saddened by the tactics that the Church and their defense
team used to protect O'Connell," said Cosby. It seemed that
there was no question that he did what he did, but instead, they
used the statute of limitations as a defense.

"And, yet, O'Connell pled the Fifth Amendment for every question
asked. He even cited the prospect self-incrimination in admitting
that he ever knew either of us."

Wegs, who is a co-founder of the Minnesota Chapter of SNAP, said
he hoped that his case would encourage other Missouri residents
to support efforts to reform outdated state laws on child abuse.

He said that responsible lay Catholics and the public at large
would have to provide the energy and votes to change any legislation
designed to protect children.

"Our former teachers and classmates are now in positions of
authority in diocese, former friends like Gregory Higley, who is
the vicar general," Wegs said. "I would hope that they
would forsake the past and begin to manage the Church in an accountable
and transparent fashion. But considering the way they dealt with
me, I doubt that they will never even consider advancing an open,
just, and responsible system."

O'Connell has thus far faced no criminal charges.

"But we strongly hope that more of his victims will report
to police and prosecutors about this dangerous man," said Barbara
Dorris, a spokesperson for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests.

"SNAP leaders are especially hopeful that a recent court ruling,
which enables delayed prosecution of child molesters, "will
mean that someday O'Connell will be behind bars, where he can't
hurt kids anymore," said David Clohessy, SNAP's national director.

O'Connell, a native of Ireland, was ordained in 1963 and worked
at many of the Missouri diocese's mission parishes in central and
northern Missouri, including: Indian Creek, Kahoka, Novinger, Ewing,
Canton, Brookfield, LaGrange, Clarence, Louisiana, Clarksville,
Monroe City, Palmyra; Bowling Green, Shelbina and Bevier.

O'Connell now lives at Mepkin Abbey, just north of Charleston,
South Carolina. Wegs said he expects O'Connell to return to his
native Ireland when the multiple civil lawsuits against him are
settled. For more information about O'Connell's circumstances versus
those of his victims, please follow these links: